White Sox prepared to move on from Machado

Club makes aggressive offer, but prized free agent chooses Padres

By
Scott Merkin

February 19, 2019

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The White Sox rebuild has never been about one player, a point reinforced by general manager Rick Hahn on Tuesday as he addressed the media after reports of Manny Machado's signing with the Padres for a reported 10-year, $300 million deal.But that philosophy being used to help

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The White Sox rebuild has never been about one player, a point reinforced by general manager Rick Hahn on Tuesday as he addressed the media after reports of Manny Machado's signing with the Padres for a reported 10-year, $300 million deal.But that philosophy being used to help Chicago build what it hopes is multiple championship contenders didn't make Machado ultimately picking San Diego any easier for the organization to process.:: Spring Training coverage presented by Camping World ::"From the rawness and selfish standpoint or my individual standpoint, trying really hard and failing is not sufficient," Hahn said."Well, I'm wearing my shades so that you guys don't see the shock in my eyes," said White Sox executive vice president Ken Williams, who spoke earlier on Tuesday on the back fields of Camelback Ranch. "It is disappointing. Very surprised. There are a few other words you can put on that. I'd be lying to you if I said anything other than that.":: Manny Machado's deal with Padres ::That feeling of angst certainly will last through the night and maybe another day or two. But Hahn also expressed how proud he was of everyone in the organization in contributing to a very aggressive pitch for Machado.Williams and Hahn had great praise for chairman Jerry Reinsdorf who Williams said, "stepped up, and stepped up in a fashion that is unprecedented." According to MLB Network insider Ken Rosenthal, the White Sox actually had a higher average annual value in their eight-year, $250 million offer to Machado, a deal potentially reaching a $350 million value if all options were vested and every incentive was reached.Ultimately, Machado opted for the greater guaranteed money."That level wasn't feasible to us because we still have to project putting together a total winning roster and keeping the young players that will ultimately earn into greater dollars themselves," Williams said of the $300 million guaranteed. "So, when you look at the big picture without having to sacrifice some of them, we could not go to that level."

"There's not a hard, firm number, limit, magic number," Hahn said. "Again, we're balancing a lot of interests with these things, flexibility, control, guarantee, upside, a number of factors that in the end any single one of those may sway the player one way or another. In terms of a magic cap of a number that doesn't exist, there are certain things in the deal that aren't going to work for us, for various reasons. We weren't able to get this deal done."The Padres appeared to come into the fray late, with the White Sox being one of three teams to meet with Machado the week after the Winter Meetings. Yet, Hahn went to bed on Monday feeling fairly confident of converting on Machado based on a same-day meeting with Dan Lozano, Machado's agent, a meeting which Reinsdorf attended.Hahn's optimism turned a bit to cynicism as the night went on. When Hahn got back to the clubhouse on Tuesday from his run, he had a phone call with Lozano and that cynicism proved to be foresight.This offseason was targeted by the White Sox budget wise, with the club currently sitting just over $80 million per Spotrac. Chicago also had freed-up payroll for the next three or four years to come. The Sox added designated hitter/first baseman Yonder Alonso, Machado's brother-in-law, and outfielder Jon Jay, a close friend of Machado, both solid contributors, but also setting the stage for Machado to follow.Hope turned to disappointment on Tuesday. But it doesn't change the White Sox overall big-picture excitement for the rebuild."We will be all right," Williams said. "We are still going to take steps forward. This is all very fresh, and some things need to be thought through. Nobody died. A baseball player went to another team. Manny's a good young man. He's a solid guy. He'll just be fine. I'm glad he's in the National League.""We're going to be better Opening Day than we were at the end of last season," Hahn said. "We will be better at the end of this season than we will be on Opening Day. The trajectory continues to point upward and we're going to continue to be aggressive in the future to add players like this."